Access to Abortion in Louisiana is Under Attack

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Any day now, the Louisiana State House is expected to vote to approve a bill which would ban abortion at six weeks, before most people even know they’re pregnant. SB 184 has already cleared the State Senate and will soon be on the Governor’s desk. Gov. John Bel Edwards has pledged to sign this bill, which would decimate an already limited landscape for abortion access in Louisiana.

SB 184 would make it both medically and logistically impossible for most Louisiana women to determine that they are pregnant and arrange for safe, legal abortion care in time to beat the six-week deadline. For most women, a six-week ban would stop access to abortion a mere two weeks after a missed period. The six week abortion bans we’ve seen sweeping state legislatures across the country have one purpose -- ban abortion entirely and pave the way for an end to Roe.

This week, thousands of people turned out at statehouses, town squares and courthouses across the country to say #StopTheBans on abortion care. At Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, we joined our patients and supporters in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Houston to make it clear that we won’t stand for attacks on health care. But we need to keep the momentum going. Our elected officials must know that people across the country are watching and paying attention to what Louisiana does next. We need you to keep the pressure on Gov. Edwards and let him know that he must stop SB 184 and stand up for our right to essential health care.

We know what’s at stake here: nearly a million women of reproductive age in Louisiana would lose their access to safe, legal abortion if this dangerous bill takes effect. This is the moment to raise the alarm. Call Gov. Edwards at 225-342-7015 and tell him to stop abortion bans - like SB 184 - that hurt women.

Our patients’ lives are too important to let these abortion bans go unchallenged. We won’t stand for politicians interfering in people’s private medical decisions. Join us for a Stand-In on Thursday, May 30 at the Louisiana State Capitol to take bold action against bans that put pregnant Louisianans' lives at risk.

Together, we can stand up for access to safe and legal abortion and reject bans that attempt to strip us of our health and rights. Together, we can stop the bans.